The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Kate’s mother is dying. She wants to go back to her hometown. Kate is prepared to spend as long as it takes for her mother to die and then she is out of there. She isn’t interested in making friends. When she ends up on the end of a prank gone horribly wrong, a local girl is dead. Suddenly a man shows up and brings her back to life in exchange for Kate’s promise to spend the winter on his estate. Kate has no idea what she is getting into in this story based on the myth of Persephone.

I enjoyed this book. It isn’t a strict retelling of the Greek myth. It considers what would be going on with the immortals in that story in modern times. Even though the story was a bit formulaic, there were surprises at the end that I didn’t see coming. There are two more books in the series and I plan on reading them.

The Blessed by Tonya Hurley

On Halloween night, three teenage girls are admitted to the same ER in Brooklyn. Agnes has attempted suicide after her boyfriend broke up with her. Cecilia is a musician who passed out and almost drown in a puddle. Lucy is a celebutante who ODed in a club. All three girls are given a bracelet by a mysterious visitor. In a few days they feel drawn to a condemned church and find their visitor and more secrets waiting for them.

I didn’t get it. It seems like an interesting set up but I totally didn’t get it.

There was one thing that just irked me about this book and I tried hard but I couldn’t get past it. The author kept talking about a tornado coming. This tornado was predicted to come tomorrow. Maybe it is because I’m a Midwesterner but it seems to be common knowledge that tornadoes are spur of the moment things thrown out of major storms. You can’t predict them 24 hours out. They also don’t last long. They don’t decimate an entire borough of New York. I think she was confusing tornadoes and hurricanes and I’m not sure why an editor didn’t pick up on that.

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I’m reading a book called Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do by Wednesday Martin. There is so much to discuss in this book. I’m reading through it just nodding my head because all the examples have happened to me too. I’m thinking about running a readalong. If you are interested in possibly participating let me know.